Puppy Love
by Butterfly Bandage
Summary: -ON HIATUS- Mello hates dogs. Matt finds one. Matt brings it home. Mello is furious. The puppy is overjoyed. Chapter fic, fluffy MelloMatt friendship
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hah, yeah, I got into Death Note, and I am in LOVE with Matt. And I'm going to buy his goggles the day after this is published. Mwa ha ha ha. I particially need them because I'm going to cosplay as him, but that's not till October. Ha ha ha... ha. Ha.

I'll shut up.

**Disclaimer: **Matt, Mello and all related characters are copyrighted to the authors of _Death Note_, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba. Rabbit belongs to my mother's boss, Kevin. :D I kept playing with him as I wrote this, to get a feel of how Rabbit would act. Everything the puppy does in this fic is something the real Rabbit did to/would do/with me.

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**Puppy Love**

**..:X:..**

Mello was in pain. This was more than a tad obvious, Matt had to admit that to himself, inhaling the crisp winter air.

It was about 9 o'clock in the morning, and most unfortunetly, Matt had run out of chocolate bars. Mello, ever the forceful one, had ordered Matt to get some more (in a most undignified location from the couch) and Matt had reluctantly obliged.

God, he _hated _when Mello chose to ask him to go out _right _when he was about to beat the game he was playing.

It didn't help that Matt wasn't that fond of dear old Mother Nature, either.

But when Mello winced after giving the order, Matt gave in and, grabbing his vest, embarked out to the only store in town that sold Mello's favorite brand of chocolate.

Unluckily for Matt, it was a half an hour walk from his apartment.

Ugh.

Matt kicked at a rock on the side of the road. It rebounded off a metal pole and _ping!_ed against a trash can.

Which then began to whimper.

Matt's eyebrows shot up well past his orange goggles as he stared. The can continued to make pathetic little yelping noises. Wait a minute... Matt recognized those sounds.

He strode over to the can, lifted the top, and peered in. A small, white, and (he hated to admit it) adorable little puppy stared back at him with wide eyes, tongue lolled out and panted happily to see a new friend. Matt guessed it to be a -what were they called?- ah, right, Bijon Frise. It fit the descriptions; coarse, short curly white hair, and slightly wispy. Tiny, with stumpy legs. Big wide eyes. There had been a few of them running around back in America, but he'd never actually owned one.

He could've just left it there. Matt didn't _have _to help the little puppy.

It gazed up at him lovingly.

Matt scoffed and grabbed the rim of the can and carefully put it down on the ground, then leaned down next to it. The puppy ran out and immediately was all over him, licking his face (as much as the goggles would allow), his neck (as much as his sweater and vest would allow) and his ears (as much as his hair would allow).

"Augh... god dammit, knock it off... that's gross... now I'm all wet...get off..." Matt's muttered protests slowly but surely turned into chuckles as the pup leaped into his lap and continued to happily lick every part of him that was exposed, little paws against his chest. He made a little playful swipe at the puppy, and it yipped happily and began to gnaw at his hand, chewing on the leather, growling. Matt took that moment to check the tag on it's collar with his free hand. It was all in English. "'Rabbit', huh?" he muttered to himself. The puppy looked up at him. "'Kevin's Pet. "Play with me"'." Matt looked back at the puppy, who cocked its head and scratched behind its ear.

"Rabbit. So you're a... she-puppy?" He lifted the dogs back leg, then quickly brought it back down again. "NO you're definitely a he-puppy. Definitely a he-puppy."

The puppy went back to it's previous task of chewing on his hand as Matt scratched it behind the ears, thinking.

Mello didn't like dogs, and would probably eat Matt alive if he brought the puppy back with him. The puppy buried his face in Matt's front, nuzzling his stomach.

Matt grinned.

It was _his _apartment.

**..:X:..**

"You bought a _dog?_" Mello all but screeched.

"No, I didn't _buy _it, I _found it,_" Matt said, giving the puppy a little nudge with his foot as it bounded into the apartment. It raced over to the couch and placed it's little paws on the edge. Mello eyed it distastefully. "Matt. It's an animal."

"So?"

The puppy put his paws back down on the ground and stared up at Mello with the same patented love-look it'd given Matt before. It gave a little squeal and shook its fur, then continued to gaze up at the teenager with loving eyes.

"See, he likes you," Matt said, with the straightest face in the world.

Mello snorted and pushed the puppy away, noticing the collar on it's neck. "He's lost?"

"I imagine so."

Mello smirked triumphantly, then winced at the pain. "So we make some lost posters and wait till his owners call us and claim him."

Matt walked over, leaned down, and scooped up the puppy. "Take a look at his tag."

Mello grabbed the tag in his unburned hand and stared at it for a second. "English, huh? So they're either British--"

"Like Near."

"Ignoring. Or American--"

"Like me."

"Also ignoring. So the posters have to be in Kanji _and _English?"

Matt's shoulders sagged slightly. He wasn't that good at Kanji. He could _speak _Japanese, but reading it? You'd have a better chance of Matt speaking Latin. In all seriousness.

But Matt was not about to admit that. He'd prefer not to.

**..:X:..**

"Matt."

"Yes?" He scratched the puppy behind it's ears. It flipped upside down in his lap and pawed gently at his incoming hands.

"This says, in the Kanji, "Lost pig. For information reach you Matt."

"Oh. Well."

"Yeah."

**..:X:..**

"Mello, just watch him for a second, I need to go to the bathroom, and he'll follow me if I leave. Last thing I need is for a dog to follow me to the can."

"But... it's _staring_ at me."

"He likes you."

"Well, I don't like _him_."

"Just sit on the couch and throw the plastic octopus back and forth. He'll give it back to you."

"Whatever."

_Snap. _The door to the bathroom closed.

Long pause.

The dog looked at Mello for a few seconds, then squatted.

"DEAR _LORD_ MATT GET YOUR ASS OFF THE TOILET!!!!"

Matt came bursting through the door to the bathroom clad in his red boxers, pants left abandoned in the bathroom. He'd apparently kicked them off instead of attempting to run with them around his ankles or pulling them back up.

"Oh. Crap. Literally."

"YES LITERALLY."

**..:X:..**

After the fiasco with the... waste products, Matt decided that the puppy would have to be walked every few hours, lest he cleaned up... waste products.

Unfortunately, he needed a leash.

"Use a noose, that'd keep him close."

"Mello..."

"Just a suggestion."

"...you're unbelievable."

"Yes, I know. Don't you love me for it."

"...dream on."

Cue in the sticking out of the tongue.

"Real mature."

"Shut up and walk the dog."

**..:X:..**

"Well, you're a little bundle of fun, aren't you..." Matt murmured, half comatose as the puppy snuggled up next to him on his bed, yawning. He lifted a weary hand and laid it on the puppy's head. Rabbit lifted his little snout and bit down softly on Matt's now leather-free fingers. Matt chuckled. "Guess you're glad you don't have to taste that stuff anymore, huh, pup."

Rabbit yawned.

**..:X:..**

When Matt stumbled out of his room like a drunkard to go to the bathroom (having been unable to do so properly earlier in the day) he was startled to find Rabbit sleeping next to the couch, with a snoring Mello's hand resting on his fuzzy white head.

Matt half-grinned, half-smirked.

"Hah. Softy."

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**A/N: **Yeah, this is a chapter-fic. How many chapters, I have no idea. Probably two or three. Depends on the reviews I get. :D Not that I'm implying anything. No, of _course _I'm not asking you to please review and not just press that little button if you favorite. I tried out a new layout, too. I like it. :)

And how come my Savin' Me fic has 30 comments, and _22 _alerts? I may not be a math genius, but I know that with 6 chapters, that doesn't work out right...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the delay, but a lot was going on for a while, and I just got a chance to really work on my fanfictions. BTW, did you guys see Matt's hair? It was freakin' _brown. _Well, I am among those who will continue to go on with the delusion that his hair is crimson. Yes, I am mad stubborn.

**Disclaimer:** Matt, Mello and all related characters are copyrighted to the authors of Death Note, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba. Rabbit belongs to my mother's boss, Kevin. :D We gave him a bath last night, now he's a puffball.

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**Puppy Love**

**.:X:.**

Something was licking him.

"No... gerroff, dam'it," Matt muttered stupidly, eyes closed. He swiped at a random spot in the air, and connected with something fuzzy. He felt a slight pain in his hand as the fuzzy thing growled, bit him, then continued to lick his face. "I sa', gerroff... I don't got no _time _fer this..." He was speaking gibberish, and instead of speaking Japanese had reverted back to his native American.

Not to mention the fact that he was tired.

There was a pause in the licking, and Matt thought he'd have a nice return to slumberland.

Boy, was he in for a rude awakening.

"OOF!" He shot upright as Rabbit pounced and landing squarely on his abdomen before taking off out the door, partially propelled by Matt's colorful language as well as the added step from when he bounced off Matt's stomach.

"MOTHER EFFING DOG!!" Matt half screeched, half gasped. Rabbit just walked back in and gazed up at him in adoration. Matt massaged his stomach. "Dammit, I can't _hate_ you when you _look _at me like that."

"Matt, shut the _fuck_ up already," Mello moaned from the living room couch. Matt swung his feet off his bed and, giving Rabbit the old evil eye as he walked by, stepped into the living room. "Yo, feeling better, Mr. Oh I hate dogs so much yet I _pet them_ when I think my friend is asleep?"

Mello stared at him. "...what?"

Matt repeated the question.

"Matt, you're speaking in fucking English again."

"Oh." He repeated the question again, in Japanese.

If Mello had been physically able to, he probably would've pounced on Matt in a similar manner to Rabbit and throttled him.

"Shut up," he snapped, trying (and failing) to ignore Matt's stupid trademark grin/smirk/sneer.

"Hey, I walked in during the middle of the night, and it was _your _hand on top of _his _head. So don't tell _me _you don't like animals. I saw it with my own two eyes. You love the little rascal."

"The little rascal. It's official, Raccoon Boy, you've gone over the deep end and you're never coming back."

Matt responded with a rude hand gesture, which Mello happily took as a "throw one of the puppy's toys at my face, please, Mello", and obliged.

A small plastic hedgehog went sailing through the air and bounced off Matt's noise, making a squeaking noise during the impact. Matt cursed, picked it up, and chucked it so it just barely ruffled Mello's hair. Rabbit tore across the room to retrieve it, happily oblivious to the obscenity battle that was going on above him, then dropped it on Matt's foot.

"I was not petting him. My hand slipped."

"And it just happened to fall on top of the dog's head, eh? Please, my brain hasn't deterierated _that _much from video games."

"Yet you play that one extremely girlish game... what was it called? That farming sim?"

"I was bored, I had nothing to do."

"Yeah, yeah, lay it on thicker, why don't you."

"You are _so _lucky you're injured right now."

"Oh, so scared."

"Shut the fuck up."

Mello made a rude hand gesture, before watching Matt's head nod back and forth as he followed the little puppy chasing its tail. Mello made a somewhat concerned face. "Is it supposed to do that?" Matt laughed. "Yes, actually, it is supposed to." He was starting to calm down; the morning had not been the best. "Dogs aren't really that smart when they're younger."

"So his intellect is currently equal to yours, is that what you're saying?"

To quote Shakepeare's _Romeo and Juliet, _"What a change is here!"

"FUCKER!"

**.:X:.**

Mello had finally gotten to the point where he could physically get to the bathroom without needing help, something he was thankful for. His friendship with Matt was preferably limited to boxers, if he could keep it that way.

Thank God for those goggles was all Mello had to say about that particular part of his inability to pee without assistence.

Unfortunately, according to the doctor, he shouldn't go through any periods of severe stress or shock while he was still injured, and walking in on Matt growling playfully at Rabbit was just about all his sanity would allow.

"MATT. WHAT THE FUCK. HOLY FLYING FUCK WAD WHAT THE FUCK."

Matt looked up, the puppy attempting to lick his face. He looked to the left, then to the right, then back again, all the while saying in a voice of self-preserved dignity, "Uh, nothing, just... um, telling the puppy to back off is all. I, uh, thought you said you were going to be in there for a while."

Mello was unfortunately still incoherent.

"MOTHER OF FUCK MATT. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS."

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, yeah. Um, why don't you go take a rest, Mello? You, er, look you like you could use it."

Mello just blinked.

The single image of his friend --who played _Enlisted, _for Christ's sakes-- crouched on the ground and growling at a puppy was too much for the Russian. He shook his head to try and clear his mind and wobbled back into the bathroom, muttering to himself.

Matt blinked too. "Oops..." He said to the puppy. "I think I broke him..."

Rabbit yipped.

**.:X:.**

"Okay, look, Mello, it's really, really easy. Just grab the end of the rope and pull. Rabbit will try to get it away from you. Not only will the puppy be having fun, but it will also hopefully bring back some upper body strength from your twig-like appearance." Matt ducked as the chew toy came plummeting towards his head.

"Upper body strength my ass, Matt. I'm still realing over that whole growling thing." Mello scowled. And now you want me to play with it?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "For God sake's, Mello, grow up."

Another chew toy came soaring towards his forehead.

"_You're_ telling _me_ to _grow up_? You were on all fours growling at a _puppy_. Jesus _Christ_."

Matt stuck out his tongue. "At least I can have fun."

Mello narrowed his eyes. "Gimme the fucking rope."

Matt smirked. "_Score_." He chucked the toy at Mello, who caught it and inspected it. "So I just-- HEY! Don't lick me!" Rabbit looked up from his position by Mello's hand, looking at him with adoring eyes, eyes so cute that it almost made him throw up.

"Ugh," he shook his head. "I can't believe I am doing this." He thrust the end of the rope at Rabbit, who immediately snatched it with his puppy teeth and pulled, growling. The unexpected force from this tiny animal caused Mello to nearly fall off the couch he'd been reclining on. He bared his teeth at the puppy.

"Oh no you don't, Furball," he snarled, trying to wrench the toy away from Rabbit and nearly dragging the poor pup up with him. Rabbit held firm, however, and Mello waved the toy back and forth, Rabbit's muzzle going with it. "Leggo, you stinkin' animal!" Rabbit growled at him again, and shook his head frantically, trying to get Mello to let go as well. Before long, Mello's face slowly melted into a grin as he kept tugging at the toy, and he kept talking to Rabbit, saying many odd things that the dog probably couldn't evn understand, considering they were in Russian.

Matt watched this entire process unfold before him with a stunned look on his face.

"Mello, are you... are you having _fun?"_ A smirk slowly worked its way onto Matt's face. "Oh, this is such _awesome _blackmail!"

Mello jerked at the rope, and said, still concentrating on the toy, "You do and I'll kick your ass back to America, Yankee."

Matt stuck out his tongue again, but he was still grinning. "I can't believe you're having _fun. _And you're not blowing up someone's head."

Mello shrugged, dragging Rabbit back and forth. "Neither can I, come to think of it."

Matt opened his mouth to say something else, when the doorbell rang.

They both looked at each other, then Mello nodded his head in the direction of the door.

Matt, always the quick one, got up slowly, walked towards the door and turned the knob. Outside, a young girl of about fifteen stared up through black-rimmed glasses hopefully. She pushed some brown, highlighed hair out of her face.

"Hi. Um, I followed the poster. Are you Matt? I'm looking for Rabbit."

Matt blinked. "Oh."

Crap.

**.:X:.**

**A/N: **Well, there we go. One more chapter left, people. I'm sorry this is so short, but it's kind of hard to get into Matt and Mello's minds... It hurts, actually. O.o BTW, I make a cameo appearence. That's me up there.


End file.
